Kramer Goes Crazy

I recieved an email today from a good friend of mine. The subject line read something like this "Kramer went nuts!" In the email was a link to a video at the TMZ.com. The video showed actor and comedian Michael Richards (who played Kramer on Seinfeld) performing on stage at the laugh factory. During his routine he was heckled by two African American audience members, and this is where the video starts. Having dealt with the heckling for some time Richards flies of the handle and begins throwing racial epithets around. All while still on stage. At one point in the video the two men can be heard saying, 'That was completely un-****ing called for!' To which Richards replies something to the effect of 'So was interrupting me.' The video, which is of very poor quality and is hard to understand at some points can be found here.*
In the past few years I have become an avid Seinfeld fan, so I was very surprised and disturbed by this video. Obviously any racist/bigotted thought is wrong and should not be tolerated. I do not want anyone to get the idea that I am condoning what Michael Richards did. However, in my opinion, having read a couple of articles about this and watched the video Richards was provoked to this action, in some ways. The men in the audience were not allowing him to do the comedic set that he had prepared and it would appear that it flustered and frustrated him to a point of extreme anger, something we are all prone to. Racism is never the answer, and what Richards did during this performance was unthinkable. However, I still think he deserves some forgiveness.
Article from the Star Tribune
*This video contains graphic language.

11:05 PM - Addendum - Jerry Seinfeld was on David Letterman tonight and invited Michael Richards to come onto the show via satellite to discuss, from his point of view, what happened. During the interview Richards apologized profusely for his actions and was on the verge of tears the entire time. It was the most serious thing that I have ever seen as he apologized and stated again and again that no one deserves to endure "that crap," meaning the racial remarks which he made on stage. According to Richards, he let his anger get the best of him and he was deeply sorry for it.